Chimneypieces | Renaissance | Stock No: 12576

Antique Oak Jacobean carved wood James I Chimneypiece

" AWAY TO NEWMARKET " This delicately carved oak Jacobean chimneypiece is attributed to the provenance of the original Royal Palace built by King James Ist in Newmarket in 1606-10, from which time Newmarket became the “Resort of Kings “as the centre of horse racing which is still known as “ The Sport of Kings “. The Royal Palace was the smallest of King James's palaces and cost £ 20,000 to build.

James Ist was the first to import an Arab stallion into England for racing. Later, around 1724, three Arab stallions were imported and crossbred with English mares to produce the thoroughbred horse from which all thoroughbred horses worldwide are descended...The original horses were named after their owners: the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian and the Byerley Turk.

The first Newmarket Royal Palace built by James I from which this chimneypiece orginates was succeeded by another palace built by James' grandson Charles II of which the present Palace House is the surviving element.

Please note the image of an advert published in 1934 from Hotspur Antiques which advertises this same chimneypiece as being " from a Stuart King's palace near Newmarket, Suffolk" The original 1606-10 Royal Newmarket Palace was neglected and later destroyed during the Commonwealth / Republic period of Oliver Cromwell. The chimneypiece would have gone into royal custody. It was bought by us on the Isle of Wight where it's provenance was believed to be that it came from a house on the Osborne estate of Queen Victoria.